


Story for Rose

by Potential Violet (Potential_Violet)



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alien Mythology/Religion, Arguing, Boredom, Creation, Design, Forehead Kisses, Foreshadowing, Gem Homeworld, Gift Giving, Jewellery, Love, Magic, Meditation, Other, Sleep, Spirits, Story within a Story, Storytelling, Teaching, Young, gemstones
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-02
Updated: 2015-07-18
Packaged: 2018-04-07 08:16:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4256091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Potential_Violet/pseuds/Potential%20Violet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Before Greg and Steven, and before Garnet, Amethyst or Pearl, Rose had a different life. What were the first few years of that life like? Who looked after her? And what would a fairy tale told by a Gem sound like?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Story Time

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is a little different from the other things that I have written, in that the story contains its own story. The substory is not just a deviation from canon, but from Gems in the way that we know them. Despite this, it couldn't exist without Gems, and I hope that you'll find it interesting as a story and as a concept to think about.
> 
> As always, any comments you wish to leave will be most helpful (and also appreciated).
> 
> I hope you enjoy the story.

…

"Huhhhhhhhhhhh." Citrine exhaled loudly.

"Citrine, stop doing that, I can't concentrate properly when you make silly noises. It's annoying!" complained Rhodochrosite.

"Hey, I'm not the one that started talking."

"But you're— Ooooooooooh!" she huffed.

For a brief time there was quiet, and the lesson was allowed to continue...

"HUHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" sighed Citrine, louder this time. The yellow Gem surreptitiously opened one eye, in order to see if either of her fellow students had opened theirs yet.

"Citriiiiine! Turquoise, she's doing it on purpose! Tell her to stop!"

"Rhodochrosite, you must to learn to work through distractions," said Turquoise, not opening her eyes, "While you regenerate you'll be receiving a lot of information, far more than you have to process in the physical world. You'll need to sort through it carefully to pick out the bits that are most important, and hold the rest off until you're ready to deal with it. Think of what Citrine is doing as good practice."

"But—"

"No buts. I can do it, Rose is doing it, and if you keep at it you'll be able to do it too. Then when you're both finished and move on to more interesting things, Citrine will have to sit here and practice with me."

Citrine quickly closed her eye and fell silent; not wanting to miss out on any fun the other two might have without her.

Rose smiled; as good as she had become at allowing disturbances to pass her by, she still found it entertaining to listen to Citrine and Rhodochrosite's pointless squabbles, knowing that in an hour's time it would be like nothing had ever happened. Citrine had a point thought: she always more disruptive when she was bored, and they'd been meditating for what felt like hours. She hoped they would finish soon.

"Hhhuh." Citrine sighed, in a more genuine way this time. "Turquoise, I'm bored, my mind is getting tired. Can we take a rest now?"

Turquoise thought about the request for a moment and, deciding that she had worked them pretty hard today, reclined backwards out of her cross-legged position to lie on the floor.

"Yes. …I think we could all benefit from a break." she said to her charges with her eyes closed and her hands behind her head. "I invite the three of you to join me in relaxation." she finished languidly.

That always made Rose laugh; it was like the two of them had planned the whole sequence so they could do that… thing that they did ('or rather, that thing where they stopped doing anything else…' she decided was a more accurate description). Not infrequently, their turquoise-skinned mentor could be found sitting or lying somewhere with her blue eyes closed, completely motionless (except for maybe the occasional twitch), doing absolutely nothing for an hour or two; a lot of the time Citrine could be found curled up close by, doing the same thing (though she tended to talk while she did it, and herself and Rhodochrosite would sit and giggle at the little conversations she'd have with herself).

'Advanced relaxation' was what Turquoise had called it, and Citrine had nodded knowingly, happy to have reached an advanced level in _something_ before her two friends. Neither she nor Rhodochrosite felt the need for the curious inactivity, but that's where suggested relaxation often led, and so she started planning what she was going to do when the two of them inevitably lost contact with the world.

But that wasn't what Citrine had in mind for today's break: she was _bored_ bored, and it was going to take more than advanced relaxation to take care of it this time. Less than five minutes after they had stopped the lesson she was disturbing everyone again.

"Turquoise?"

"…"

"Turquoise?" she persisted, lightly shaking her leg.

"Mmhmmm."

"I'm bored. Can we do something fun?"

"You asked if we could take a rest, and now that we're resting you want to do something fun. How do I know that if we move from here you won't just change your mind again, and make us do something else in a couple of minutes?"

Rhodochrosite snickered. Rose grinned from her position on the floor.

"Well… we could always do something fun right here…" said Citrine.

"Could we? And what did you have in mind then?" said Turquoise, playing the game with Citrine. She already knew what the excitable young Gem was after.

"Storyteller! Tell me a story!" Citrine boomed in her best Yellow Diamond voice. Turquoise had to laugh: the impression was strangely accurate (considering that all Citrine knew of the Diamonds was what she had told them), and it was more than a little amusing to imagine that stony-faced brute making such a request.

"Yes why of course, Empress," Turquoise replied with mock servility. "Rose, Rhodochrosite, would you like to hear a story as well?"

"Yes please!"

"Yes please… storyteller." Rose said, laughing.

"Stor-ree-time! Stor-ree-time! Stor-ree—" Citrine chanted.

"Okay, so I think it's Rose's turn to—" began Turqoise.

"Ohhhhhhhhh, don't let her pick! It was _my_ idea for a story, _I_ should get to pick!" said Citrine petulantly. Things were taking a turn for the worst, and there was a very real danger that the story time she had so carefully orchestrated, would be ruined by a technicality.

"It was your idea, but if I remember correctly it was _you_ who picked last time, and the time before that."

"Yeah but Rhodochrosite said I could have her go!"

"Which was very kind of her… wait, how does that help you?" Turquoise asked quizzically.

"Because that means that one didn't count, so really I only picked one time."

"That… but that _still_ means it's Rose's turn to pick."

"It's okay, Turquoise, Citrine can choose the story if she wants to." Rose said. She didn't really mind, no matter what it was about she knew that she'd enjoy the story, and Citrine appeared to be heavily invested in the project.

"See so its fine." said Citrine encouragingly.

"No, it's not fine; you're being selfish. Just because Rose and Rhodochrosite are nice enough to let you have your own way, doesn't mean you should always get it." Turquoise said firmly. Turning to Rose and Rhodochrosite, she went on, "And you two; both of you are very easy-going, which is wonderful, but always remember that choice isn't to be taken for granted: you never know when someone will try to take it from you, or from the people you care about. Obviously this time it's just for the story so it's alright," this drew a frown from Citrine, "but you never know what might happen in the future. You'll have to be prepared to decide when it does matter. Understand?"

"Yes." said Rose; Rhodochrosite nodded vigourously, causing her bushy white hair to bounce around comically.

"Alright then," Turquoise said, smiling at the latest group she was responsible for.

Of all the Gems she'd ever had to look after, Citrine was one of the most lively; she glad that Rhodochrosite and Rose were with her, they would go a long way in helping to teach her to channel her energy into positive things.

Rose took care to remember what Turquoise had just said; she had been their guardian since she and Citrine had navigated their way above ground and found their way to the small town in the cove, and had taught them so much since then. She knew that even if the things that Turquoise said didn't have clear applications right now, then they certainly would in the future, so it was well worth paying attention.

"So Citrine, you come and sit by me," and Citrine did, resting her head in Turquoise's lap, poking her tongue out at the two pink Gems. "And Rose, tell us what kind of story you'd like to hear."

Rose's face was quickly split by a large grin, inciting the same reaction in Rhodochrosite and Turquoise soon after. When Citrine noticed the silly smiles on the faces of her peers, she looked up at Turquoise, who confirmed her fears.

"Ohhhhhhh!" she wailed. "That's not fair; you guys always pick mushy stories! There's three of you and only one of me! That's… that's cheating!"

"But Rose hasn't said anything yet." Turquoise pointed out.

"Yeah but you know what she's gonna say…" Citrine mumbled unhappily."

Citrine was right: Rose, Rhodochrosite and Turquoise all shared the same penchant for stories full of feeling, love, and deep interpersonal interaction; as soon as she'd seen Rose smiling like that she'd known what her answer was going to be.

"I'd like to hear a love story, please." said Rose decisively.

"Ochhhhhhhhhh—" was all Citrine said, clearing her throat loudly and rolling her eyes.

"Alright, a love story it shall be! And don't worry, Citrine; you'll like this one, I promise." Turquoise said as she ruffled Citrine's tangle of curly yellow hair.

"Oh fiiiiiiiiiiiine." she said. Her smile belied her sulky tone.

Turquoise began.

…

_"A long, long time ago, before I started taking care of you, before **my** gem had finished forming, before even the first wandering Gems met and decided to travel together; before anything, there were five heavenly spirits: Illumination, Alteration, Amalgamation, The Animator and The Lapidary, our heroine._

_Illumination controlled the light; everything that you could see, you could be see could because of her, but nobody ever saw **her** … In her true form she shone far too brightly for anyone to look at directly, so when people came to visit her she appeared as a shadow, speckled with tiny points of light, like a clear night sky. She could warm and brighten the coldest and darkest of places, and would always light the path of those who lost their way._

_Alteration was the spirit of change. She could never make up her mind who or what she wanted to be, because she saw the good and the bad in everything. And so she decided to **be** everything, and anything: if she could think about it or see it, she could become it. Nobody knew what she really looked like, because she was always changing; just as she changed the things around her._

_Amalgamation was understood by no one because she was one being, and yet many beings at the same time. She had split herself into parts to learn what exactly she was, and then put herself back together again to learn the secrets of combination. Out of all the spirits, she was the one that said the least; she wanted to share her gift with the others, but felt that it wasn't something to explain, but something to **experience** if you truly wanted to appreciate it._

_The Animator was the most responsible of the spirits; she had to be, because only she could create life. She was amazed by the amazing things that the other spirits could do to what was around them, and loved both being able to witness their work, and the state of being alive. Her desire to share what she loved was so strong that she was willing to sacrifice herself to give life to others; that willingness was the source of her power, and she applied that power generously._

_Last of all there was the Lapidary. Infinitely creative, observant of every tiny detail, patient and determined; her gift was to see what something had the potential to become, and help it to become that. She was difficult to get hold of because she was always working on something, or looking for the perfect material for her next masterpiece; but if they could find her to ask her, then she was always ready to help her fellow spirits._

_The universe was their playground, and they came and went as they pleased; creating and destroying, shaping and reforming… working and playing together, doing whatever it was that spirits thought about doing._


	2. Arts, Crafts and Interdimensional Travel

…

_But for all their powers, for the endless space and multiple dimensions they could call their home; for their infinitely long lives, one of the spirits was sad. The Lapidary was deeply in love with the Animator and yet, she had never told her or shown her because she was afraid."_

"Afraid of what?" demanded Citrine.

"Well, afraid that the Animator wouldn't return her feelings.

_You see, the Animator was as beautiful as she was humble, as humble as she was kind, and as kind as she was generous. Her amazing ability had not made her arrogant, and the Lapidary was charmed by her personality and her looks._

_It went on like that for a long time: every day the Lapidary would wait for a sign, any sign that the Animator felt the same way, and every day she would be disappointed: the Animator would only ever treat her with the same warm, friendly manner that she always did, and so the Lapidary never knew if there was any deeper feeling behind it."_

"This is a sad story, I don't like." Citrine interrupted again.

"Hush, you. She's barely even started yet." Rose said assertively.

She was already intrigued, and if Citrine was going to keep making Turquoise pause then the story was going to be a lot less enjoyable.

"Rose is quite right, Citrine. If you don't stop interrupting, then I'm afraid I'll have to stop; if that happens your friends definitely won't thank you."

Rhodochrosite frowned and Rose folded her arms. The pink Gems warned her without speaking.

"Nonono! I'm sorry. I'll be quiet!" said Citrine, rolling her lips inward. "Tell the story, pleeease!" she grinned, showing Turquoise all her teeth with a ridiculous grin. Their mentor shook her head in amusement and continued.

"Where was I… ah yes.

_So the Lapidary was upset, and one night she perched on one of ledges of her palace and cried. She dreamed about all the things they could be together, but she was just too shy to make those things happen."_

Politely, Rose put up her hand.

"Yes, Rose?" Turquoise acknowledged.

"What's dreaming?"

"Oooooooh! I know, I know! Can I tell her? Let me tell her!"

"Okay then, Citrine." Turquoise said, a little concerned that the energetic yellow Gem would start making mischief if kept quiet for too long.

"YES! A dream is… pictures, no… it's things that are happening to you, well, sometimes it's to you, but not how you normally look… Dreams are when you're doing advanced relaxation, and your mind makes things up that you can see, and sometimes it makes sense, but sometimes it doesn't and then you can see things that you know exist, but you've never seen them. Sometimes..." Citrine finished with a satisfied smile. She thought her explanation had been quite successful.

Rose looked confused, so Turquoise stepped in to clarify.

"Citrine is right, but her explanation might have been a bit hard to follow. I told you about future vision: dreams are _like_ visions of the future, but you only see them during advanced relaxation, and what you see is _very_ unlikely to happen — that's if what you see is even possible. Your mind creates them randomly: the only thing that is _always_ constant in dreams is the fact that you're having them. Does that help?"

"Yes, thank you." Rose and Rhodochrosite said at the same time.

Dreams sounded _very_ interesting; maybe next time Turquoise did some advanced relaxation she would join her…

"Okay.

_Time and gravity didn't affect the spirits like it affects us, and as the Lapidary's tears left her eyes, she could see them float and dance around each other, catching the moonlight as they moved in it. They shone and twinkled, reflecting what was around them in the most wonderful way. She found it comforting._

_The sight enchanted her; just like the Animator had enchanted her._

_And that's when she had an idea._

_She would give the Animator a gift: something totally original, made with love and care, something plain made into something amazing! At the same time she would be fearless, and tell her favourite spirit how she felt. Wiping the tears from her eyes, she smiled for the first time in a long time._

_So she sat down, crossed her legs, closed her eyes and looked all around the universe. She looked far and wide, high and low; from the centres of huge clouds where stars formed, to the places where everything is… opposite. She_ _gazed throughout the universe for_ _a thousand years—"_

"A THOUSAND YEARS!? " screeched Citrine. "Tha—"

On seeing the angry glares of Rose and Rhodochrosite, Citrine put a hand over her mouth and made not even the slightest noise.

Turquoise went on.

_"She gazed throughout the universe for a thousand years, until finally she found the perfect location. When she opened her eyes she was on a planet, the planet that she had chosen to create her finest work._

_The world pleased her even more when she stood on its surface and saw it with her own eyes: during the day the skies were the clearest, most vivid blue, and at night its three moons would come out to play — glowing as they reflected the light of their nearest star. In the night sky she could see the rest of the galaxy as a shimmering cloud, and she knew that she'd picked a world as delightful as the person that had inspired her to go there._

_It was time for her to get to work._

_The Lapidary had a great number of tools, and to begin her project she took the largest of these — her great conical drill — and started to tunnel her way through the rock._

_As she burrowed through the world, she noticed stones of many different kinds embedded in the surrounding rock; when she touched them, she got a unique feeling from each of them: each had its own character, and unable to decide which the Animator would like best, she took them all._

_There was the ruby: powerful and full of energy, it inspired her to get things done. There was the sapphire: to touch it made her feel calm, and she found that she could think much more clearly. The emerald made her feel lucky: like she could get through any problem; and reminded her of how much she loved her friends, the other spirits. A brush with malachite made her jump: she found its effects on her positive and negative feelings strange, and she felt protected somehow; it made her think of Alteration, and how she was always changing._

_The opal and the quartzes, the amethyst and the agates, the celestine and the other beryls; she took them all and beamed with happiness — just from imagining how the Animator would react to them (whichever she decided to give her)._

_After a long time, the Lapidary decided that it was time to take the stones back to her palace for cutting and polishing. She would bring out their hidden charm and make them perfect. But she had been on the planet for a long time, and though she loved her palace she hadn't been there for many years. She had grown very fond of the planet, and of the noisy, yet simple existence she had there._

_And so, the Lapidary made that world her home world. From then on wherever she went, no matter how long she stayed there, there would always be one place she favoured above the rest._

_She sat down at her special table, summoned the rest of her special tools, and set to work on the stones she had so carefully collected. Every single stone was cleaned and polished, she cut them in all shapes and styles, and gave some of them facets: every face exactly where it needed to be to sparkle as much as possible. Others she left smooth: their natural beauty was easily visible at their surface, so didn't need much extra to be done to them._

_For months she worked hard on the stones until there was only one type left, the diamonds. She had chosen to perfect them last because they were the hardest, and because she could see what they would become when she was finished. She thought that_ **_they_ ** _would be the ones that the Animator would like the best._

_All her effort and all her skill went into the restyling of the diamonds: everything she had learned from working with the other stones, she now put into practice. It took her ages, but eventually she was finished. The many hundreds of wondrous stones were kept safe by crystal clear bubbles that she sealed them in - they were too precious just to be left lying around, and she had used them to decorate her space before she was ready to show the Animator._

_And now she_ **_was_ ** _ready to show the Animator… well, she thought she was… but no, she changed her mind._

_The diamonds were exactly as she'd hoped they'd be: they sparkled like they should, they had the perfect cut that she'd come up with for them, there were even three different colours that the Animator could choose if she wanted to. But none of that was enough for the Lapidary. Something was missing…_

_As she turned the brilliant rock, the white diamond, around in her hand she was reminded of the stars and how they twinkled._

_"Aha!" she said. "I will go and see Illumination! She'll surely be able to help me."_

_So she put on her dark goggles, took the white diamond and grabbed the light prism that Illumination had given her. She rubbed it and in a bright flash of white, she was gone._

_She reappeared in Illumination's personal realm, glad to have remembered her goggles because it was bright! Bright like staring into Homeworld's star on the hottest day you can imagine. She didn't have to wait around for long, because soon enough Illumination's dark shape appeared to greet her._

_"Lapidary!" she screamed excitedly, "it has been such a long time, where have you been?"_

_"I have been in the physical universe, on a planet I found. I've been working on something." The Lapidary said, showing her the diamond._

_"Wow, it's very pretty, is it for me?"_

_"No, it's for the Animator." she said with a blush._

_"Ooooooh, that's sweet of you. What's the occasion?"_

_So the Lapidary explained everything to her, and told her that she didn't know what to do to make a better present. Illumination smiled and hugged her, saying:_

_"Don't worry my friend, the Animator will love it as it is, but I will give you something that might help you make it even better."_

_Illumination handed her a small, shiny, black cylinder, with a small hole in the top edge._

_"When you pour from the top, light itself will flow out. It's special, just for you: it is pure light, but it can be cast into shapes!"_

_"That's amazing! Thank you!" said the Lapidary. Her mind was already coming up with ways to use it._

_"I wish you lots of luck with the Animator!" said Illumination, hugging the Lapidary one last time before she went home._

_When she was back, she looked at her diamonds, the rest of the stones and at the container illumination had given her; another idea came to her, and she set about making moulds of all different shapes, for all different purposes. Once they were finished, she put her goggles back on and poured from the container into a test mould. The light was as bright as she'd expected, but it flowed like water and chilled the space around it._

_Quickly the light hardened, losing its glow and appearing as a shiny, silvery metal. She picked out the ring she had made and slipped it on her finger; as moved her hand around to admire it, it glowed in time with her movements. The more she shook it, the more it seemed to glow._

_She laughed when she saw it happening and jumped up to start using the other moulds. She filled them all with the strange light, and when they were finished she took her tools and bent them into complicated, elegant shapes. When each piece was complete she took the stone that was meant for it and set it carefully within._

_What remained at the end was jewellery, the fanciest jewellery that you could ever lay eyes on. Every piece was hand crafted with as much love as the Lapidary had promised, and had the same magical shining that her ring did. Looking at her work, she was pleased._

_Until she realised how different each piece was…_

_There was so much of it, she had no clue which one she wanted to give the Animator anymore: it was hard enough to pick which stone she wanted to give her, but the different ways each stone would now be worn made choosing impossible. After some thinking, it was clear that she'd need some more help…_

_She placed her hand on the pedestal that Alteration had given her, and instantly the world shifted around her, morphing into the strange, amorphous realm of sort-of-things that Alteration lived in._

_She waited…_

_"Hello... Alteration?" she called when nobody came to meet her._

_A ripple appeared in the middle of a circular pool in front of her and slowly, what she thought was water — but was too gloopy and too blue — began to collect together at the edge, overflowing it and moving towards her._

_The not-water slid close to the Lapidary and began to raise itself up, taking the form of a person on the top half, and keeping a long, winding shape on the bottom half, like the tail of a giant crystal lizard. A face appeared on the person shaped part, and then Alteration spoke:_

_"Hehehehehehehe! I was hoping you'd come to see me next! Illumination tried to keep it quiet, but I got it out of her; I know_ **_all_ ** _about your gift for the Animator. I think it's the cutest! Thing!_ **_Ever_ ** _!"_

_The Lapidary blushed again._

_"Awwww, you two are perfect for each other. I can see you being very happy together." she said, turning into a huge blue eye with wings. "Listen," she said, "I was thinking about it before you came: you should give her something that changes! Why give her one thing when you could give her everything?"_

_"That's what I came to see you about." the Lapidary said, showing her a ring with the white diamond set into it._

_Alteration turned into white version of Illumination and took the ring, marvelling at how it shined, and at the beauty of the stone. Handing it back, she smiled at the Lapidary and gently took her hand in hers._

_Alteration's hand glowed a golden yellow colour, which then crossed over into the Lapidary's hand and collected in her finger._

_"There! Now you have some of my power! Now all you have to do is touch your finger to the stone and my power will flow out of you, into it. Then you think about how want the gift to look, and it will be so." Alteration said proudly._

_"Thank you so much, the Animator is going to be thrilled when I give it to her!" said the Lapidary._

_Then Alteration sent her on her way so that she could put the new magic into her jewellery._

_It worked even better than the Lapidary could've hoped for: as soon as she touched one of the stones some of Alteration's shapeshifting magic would enter that stone, and the bracelet, ring, necklace… whatever she had made for it would shine with pure white light, and change into any shape she wished it to._

_As pleased as she was with the magical objects, she still didn't know which stone the Animator would like best. Each one had its own properties, and to give her just or two meant that she would miss out on the others._

_Alteration's words came back to her '_ **_Why give her one thing when you could give her everything?_ ** _' It was a good question: the Animator truly deserved something nice, and all the work that the Lapidary had done on the stones had been for her anyway. It felt 'right' to give her all the stones, but she still wanted them all to be part of the same piece: giving one object felt more special than many hundreds._

_But how was she going to put them all together?_

_She thought._

_And thought._

_And thought._

_And thought…_

_"How unfair of me," she suddenly cried, "I have seen Illumination and Alteration, how could I forget Amalgamation? She'll know how to do it!"_

_At once she ran to find the pieces of her magic puzzle; Amalgamation said that she should join them up if she ever needed to see her. The Lapidary needed to see her now, so she fit them together: the striped and the pale pink ones, the sparkly yellow one, and the one that looked like the blue-green of the ocean. She twisted and turned them, moved them this way and that, she looked at each piece carefully and eventually remembered how each part worked with every one of the others._

_The puzzle jumped from her hand and floated in midair; with a_ **_bang_ ** _, a huge gate exploded out of it. Before she could touch the gate, Amalgamation — all of her many selves in one body — opened the giant door and stepped into the Lapidary's workshop._

_"Greetings, Lapidary." said Amalgamation in her deep, echoey voices. "We are most pleased to see you, and happy to hear about your wooing of the Animator. You are a fine spirit, as is she: I know that your combination will be even more lovely than the two of you are."_

_"Th —thank you." said the Lapidary with the biggest smile, blushing again because now all the others knew her secret (except the Animator herself, she hoped)._

_"You opened my gate for a reason, and now I offer my magic to help you in any way I can." said Amalgamation, ready to do what her friend needed her to do._

_The Lapidary explained the situation to her: about the stones, and how they had their own nature, about the strange, solid light, and about the shape changing power now hidden in each one of the special rocks. When she finished Amalgamation said:_

_"All that you have made is excellent; the Animator is lucky to have captured your feelings. What I shall give is the gift of possibility, please, bring me three of your creations."_

_And so the Lapidary presented to her the white, the blue and the yellow diamond rings she had made._

_"Behold." said Amalgamation._

_She closed her hand around the three objects, and a light began to shine from her fist. When she opened it and the glowing stopped, the Lapidary could see a single ring. It had the features of the three that came before it, but was also different, its own new object. However, the first thing she had noticed was the diamonds themselves: no longer white, blue and yellow, all three had the same shade of pale green. When she touched them she got the same feeling from all three them, and again, it was both similar yet different to the feelings she got from the original three._

_"This will make everything truly perfect! I can't thank you enough!" said the Lapidary, hugging her friend._

_"There's no need to thank me, I do it out of love for the two of you."_

_Then, Amalgamation stretched out her hand and brought every stone in every piece of jewellery towards herself. She collected it all together in one large, dazzlingly bright shape, and when she was finished with her magic she separated them and put them gently on the Lapidary's table. It was like nothing had happened._

_"It is done. There are a great number of combinations, infinitely more than the stones that make them possible. I'm sure the Animator will never tire of your present. Until next time, my friend."_

_Amalgamation bowed and drifted back through the gate, which disappeared. The Lapidary was left alone with her magical jewellery once again._

_She couldn't wait to try out what Amalgamation had done! She sat at her table and combined her favourite pieces: one and one, two and one, three and three, five and seven. The way a stone would change colour and property by joining with another totally mystified her; she spent days and days going through as many different mixtures as she could, and she still didn't see them all._

_Finally she was satisfied; it was time to give the Animator her gift. She took all the stones and set them all in a large pyramid, studded with the multi-coloured stones. She had combined so many of the precious rocks that they couldn't appear as just one or two colours; every stone on the magical shape shone with all the colours of the rainbow. It was so beautiful that the Lapidary had to wipe a tear from her eye._


	3. The Gift of the Lapidary

_…_

_But stones so pretty needed to be set in an object that was just the same, so she shifted the shape of the pyramid to something that would please the Animator greatly, and covered it in a cloth until she was ready to show it._

_She closed her eyes and looked through the physical universe again: the Animator spent most of her time looking after her creations, and drifted through the universe without need of a permanent home, because a part of her lived within all her creations. But the Lapidary managed to find her on a quiet little world, sitting in the snow at the top of a mountain. Taking her gift with her, the Lapidary vanished from her workshop._

_The Animator smiled when she felt her arrive on the mountaintop. For the longest time she had wanted to pay the Lapidary a visit, but for ages she was nowhere to be found. She knew that the Lapidary was normally very focused on her work, but this time it had been impossible to find her; it was like she was trying to stay hidden, something that none of the spirits had ever done to each other before, no matter how busy they were._

_But the Lapidary had now come to her, and she quickly forgot the sadness she had felt at her absence. She greeted her fondly and asked how she had been, and what projects she'd been up to._

_"Only one project…" said the Lapidary nervously. The Animator was about to see what she had made for her, and hear how she felt about her. She was scared._

_Carefully, she removed the deep red cloth that covered her work:_

_"Here is a present that I made for you myself… with some magic from the others. I didn't want you to see it before it was finished, so I hid myself from you."_

_The Animator didn't know what to say, she just couldn't believe her eyes._

_In front of her was the most magnificent thing that the Lapidary had ever made: it was a model of a person, made out of a strange metal that glowed and reflected light at the same time; embedded in it, all over what would be its skin, were rocks like none that she'd ever seen before, sparkling in every colour she had ever seen all at once. It was tall like her, and had her long hair and big smile, but had the Lapidary's small nose and slender shape._

_"You made this for_ _**me** _ _?" she asked. The statue was incredible; she knew it must have taken the Lapidary a_ **_very_ ** _long time to make it. It was no surprise that she hadn't seen her._

_"I did,_ _**just** _ _for you." the Lapidary confirmed. "Do you… like it?"_

_"I love it!" she yelled with joy, "thankyouthankyouthankyou!"And then she threw her arms around her artistic friend, hugging her tightly._

_When the Animator had put her down, the Lapidary showed her that the statue was much more than a statue, and how the stones and the magic of the spirits came together to give it all its special properties._

_"This is the nicest thing that anyone has ever given me… I— I really do think it's wonderful. But why did you go through all the effort, just for me?" she asked the Lapidary, not knowing what she'd done to deserve such a gift._

_"Because I love you." was the Lapidary's answer, "I love you, and your smile, and the way you treat everyone and everything, and how you speak, and what you say… I made this for you because I could, because you made me_ **_feel_ ** _like making it. I wanted to give you something even a little bit as wonderful as you are, to show you how much I think of you."_

_And she felt better._

_So much better than she had for years: it was her finest gift, and even if the Animator didn't feel the same way about her, then she was still more than worthy of it. She was glad that she'd finally been able to tell her._

_The Animator put her hands around the Lapidary's face, gave her a long kiss on the forehead and then held her tightly._

_"Your present means a lot to me… but your words mean so much more, and you mean more than even them. I love you too; I always have, and I always will. You *sniff* should've come straight to me, or let me come to find you… *sniff* You didn't need a gift, you silly; just having you near is enough for me!"_

_Then they talked, and talked, and talked, and talked. Day turned to night, and the other stars became visible in the sky; the clouds around the mountain cleared, and they were able to see points of orange light far below: the creations of the Animator, keeping warm and safe._

_Suddenly she stood up and went to look at her present again; her new partner stood next to her and held her hand._

_"She looks like the both of us you know… Was that… planned?"_

_The Lapidary blushed, saying:_

_"No, I hadn't noticed. It must have happened because you're always in my mind."_

_That made it even better somehow: the figure was a reminder of their shared love, and to look like it did… It was just perfect._

_Looking at the figure she knew that she could never take it apart just to wear it, or simply play around with it; it was complete, exactly how it should be in her eyes. There was only one thing it was missing…_

_"I can't keep this all for myself: it's just too much for one person to enjoy. And so, I will add to it, and then I hope you will choose to share it with me. She will become our gift: from you to me, but also from me to you."_

_She stepped away from the Lapidary and took deep breath in..._

_Slowly she exhaled, and a stream of white mist twisted through the air. It touched the statue, making it glow a brilliant bright white, and one by one the rainbow coloured stones flashed with magic. When the last of the mist had vanished, the Animator put an arm around the Lapidary and whispered:_

_"Watch closely."_

_The glowing stopped: the statue's hair turned completely white, her skin changed from silver to a pale gold colour, and she blinked; the first movement the Lapidary's gift had ever made by itself. Then she shivered and almost fell over, but the Animator reached out to steady her._

_The new person looked at her curiously, and then at the Lapidary, and then she smiled._

_"Look, see what we have made together… she knows you already." said the Animator with a big smile of her own._

_Already, the Lapidary had started to cry with happiness, but practical as always, she said:_

_"*sniff* Now that she's alive… what will you call her?"_

_The Animator thought about it for a second, and when she looked into the face of their creation, a name came to her._

_"Gem. I think it suits her nicely. What do you think?"_

_And the Lapidary replied:_

_"Gem sounds like a beautiful name."_

…


	4. To Be Continued...

Rhodochrosite was trying to look like she wasn't crying.

Rose lay on her front: elbows on the floor, chin in her hands and stars in her eyes.

And Citrine—

"And then what happened!?" she prompted Turquoise excitedly; completely unaware that the story was at an end for the time being.

"And _then_ , Citrine had to wait until next time to find out what happened next."

"No, don't be mean! Puhleeeeeease! You _have_ to finish!"

"I will, don't worry," Turquoise smiled knowingly. "But it sounds a lot like somebody enjoyed the story…"

"…Yes!" Citrine agreed with a slight hint of reluctance.

"See, I told you you'd like this one; this is why you shouldn't argue with me." said Turquoise with a wink. "And how about you two?"

"Oh my gem, I loved it! I think it's my new favourite one."

Citrine snickered, "yeah she loved it: she was crying again. She _always_ cries at the ones she really likes."

"Leave me alone! I just get attached to the characters; they're… special. Rose understands…" Rhodochrosite trailed off, blushing.

"So that's two out of three. But Rose, are you pleased with your story?

…

Rose was more than pleased; this one had gone straight to the core of her gem. Turquoise said it was a story for her, and it really felt like it. It gave so much to think about, and related so much to what she had _been_ thinking about…

She had so many questions, and she was sure that many of the answers were hidden somewhere in her gem. Hidden in every Gem's gem…

…

"Thank you, Turquoise — the story was fascinating! It had so many little parts to it! I— I… I mean, some of it was you and the three of us: like the puzzle pieces, and Alteration sounded like Citrine… but there are other parts… is it true?"

Turquoise looked straight into Rose's eyes; she saw a mixture of curiosity and hope and that certain commanding seriousness that she was always surprised to see in one so young. It was a powerful look, and Rose was a powerful Gem, she could feel it. She knew that one day her pink-haired mentee was going to do incredible things, and she was glad to be a part of her upbringing.

"Some of it _is_ true, like the combination of Gems: those parts I will teach you. Other parts I made up. But honestly, there are some parts that are made from the myths and better known secrets of our people: maybe they are true, maybe not; I'm afraid I don't know. But one day you three will have to leave me and discover the world for yourself; that's the time when you'll learn the things I can't teach you."

Rose thought about that carefully for a moment, and continued to question Turquoise.

"Even if there is no Animator, then there's something in our gems that keeps us alive, and lets us shapeshift, and regenerate; has anyone ever used their gem to create something else? Something like a new Gem —or even something that _isn't_ a Gem?"

Rhodochrosite and Citrine (for once) were totally silent, absorbed entirely by what Rose and Turquoise were saying. Turquoise herself didn't answer for a while: she debated briefly whether to tell them what she knew about kindergartens, but in the end she decided against it; they weren't ready for that kind of thing, not yet (well perhaps Rose, but it would still be a lot to take in).

"Using your own gem for that, hmmm… I don't know if that's possible, Rose." she said. That much was true at least.

On seeing Rose try to mask her disappointment, she quickly added:

"But I haven't tried it. I've never heard of a Gem that has. You could be the first," she suggested with a smile, "and if you ever figure out if it's possible then you have to come back and tell me all about it, that'd be amazing to see."

"If I do then I definitely will!" Rose said happily, back to her usual cheerful self.

Hope was such a wonderful thing…

…

At night Rose liked to look up at the stars. There were so many, and she wondered if there were more of them, or more people in the world.

People and stars…

Then she had the thought that there might be different kinds of people near different stars. It seemed so impossible, and yet there were Gems, so she knew it _was_ possible.

From listening to all that Turquoise had just told them, she decided that she was going to explore not just Homeworld, but the universe; a universe that she was inspired to add something new to.

If it could be done then she would find a way...

_The End_


End file.
